AN ANXIOUS mother today made a heartfelt plea to catch the brute who tried to abduct her 14-year-old daughter in a country lane near Coventry.

And she issued this chilling warning to other mums: "It could be your child next."

The 33-year-old mother has spoken exclusively to the Evening Telegraph in the hope that it will help in the hunt for the assailant. She is not being identified to protect her daughter.

The child's ordeal happened as she walked along picturesque Wood End Lane, Fillongley, at 8.45pm Monday, July 17. A car pulled up alongside her and the driver thrust open the door, knocking the girl to the floor.

"He knocked her for six," said her mum. "She was walking along the lane towards the village when the car pulled up and he smashed the car door into her and tried to drag her into the car.

"It must have been terrifying for her. Fortunately, she's a big girl for her age and she managed to struggle free. When she got home, I just thought thank God she's safe. At that moment, if I had got hold of him, I would have ripped his head off."

Police last week issued an artist's impression of the man as they stepped up their hunt.

The girl's mother says she does not want other parents to suffer a similar trauma.

"Fillongley is a tight community and, since it happened, everyone in the village is on the look-out," she said. "They haven't caught him yet, and it's possible he might strike again somewhere nearby, like Corley, Keresley, Bedworth or Nuneaton.

"The message I want to get across to other mums is that it could be your child next if he isn't caught."

She said her daughter was being brave about the incident, but it had left its mark.

"She seems okay and is carrying on as normal, but she is very wary about going out on her own now, even though she won't admit it.

"She won't say she's scared, but now, when she wants to walk into the village, she gets one of the lads to call for her first."

Police say the man was driving a silver Rover 400i, with an R registration, which was later seen in Nuneaton Road, Fillongley, near the Weaver's Arms pub.

The man was aged 20 to 25, tall, skinny, with blond, curly bob-style hair and a spotty complexion. He wore a white T-shirt and jeans with a belt.